


Name the time and the place and the function

by anicula



Category: SKAM (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-22
Updated: 2017-02-22
Packaged: 2018-09-26 04:37:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9862886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anicula/pseuds/anicula
Summary: They meet at a club in the middle of London, somewhere between their first and last years at university.





	

By the time Eva had nearly face planted herself down Noora’s shirt for the fifth time, Noora was about halfway through her first drink and ready to call it a night. Vilde was still dancing, Sana was draped over a chair in the corner, and Chris was making out vigorously with some boy whose face was obscured by the paper crown on Chris’s head. Noora raised her hand to get Sana’s attention, dislodging Eva in the process and she had to pull Eva upright before she got Sana’s attention so Eva wouldn’t fall onto the sticky floor of the club. 

“Eva, how about we move that way?” Noora asked. She snapped her fingers in front of Eva’s bleary eyes. “Come on, let’s get you to Sana, she has some water.” 

“Wha-?” Eva replied. She swiveled around so violent she nearly smacked Noora in the face.

“Nevermind.” Noora looped one of Eva’s arms around hers and tugged her along through the crowd of people to get to the other side where Sana was. 

“She’s yours now,” Noora said as she dropped Eva half on the chair and half on Sana. 

“Fantastic,” Sana said, grimacing at the pile of Eva on her lap. She helped Eva take sips of water, though more of it fell onto the floor than into Eva’s mouth. 

“I’ll get you more,” Noora said with a gesture towards the empty glass. Eva was still sitting precariously close to the edge of her chair, Sana’s presence at her side the only thing keeping her upright. 

Noora shoved her way back to the bar. She stood there, waiting for the bartender to finish up with a group of giggly twenty somethings. 

“What can I get for you?” he asked once he was done fending off the girls’ drunken gropes and making their drinks. 

“Water please,” Noora said. At the tender age of 20, the bartender shouldn’t have been as familiar to her as he was, but Eva always wanted a drink and Noora was a bit impartial to the bartender who was always on shift here. 

“How’s your friend doing?” he pointed at Eva. “Want me to call a cab?” 

“No,” Noora shrugged, “I’ll just walk her back to ours. Might sober her up.” She smiled in thanks as the bartender slid the glass over. 

“Well, my name’s William if you need anything else,” the bartender said. 

“Thanks,” Noora said. “I’m Noora.” 

“See you around Noora.” The bartender smiled and flipped a boy scout salute as Noora turned to go back to Sana. 

When Noora got back to their table,  Sana wolf whistled loud enough Noora heard it over the thumping of the bass. Noora willed herself to not turn beet red and hoped no one else heard the whistle.

“Is that why we always end up here when we visit?” Sana raised an eyebrow and tilted her head in the direction of the bar. 

“We end up here because it’s the closest place to the flat,” Noora said. “Less than a ten minute walk away.” She looked at Eva. “Which we need.” 

“Right. Okay. Sure.” Sana gave Noora a look before checking her nails. “I believe you.” 

“As you should.” Noora shifted in her seat, playing with the glass tumbler in her hand. 

Sana smirked and leaned closer to Noora. “Did you at least get his number while you were up there?” 

“No.” Noora couldn’t stop her mouth from twitching. 

“Okay,” Sana said, her mouth rounding around the vowels slowly. 

“Because I’m not interested,” Noora said with emphasis. 

“Or not sure you’d get it?” Sana shot back with a coy smile. 

Noora rolled her eyes. “Just help Eva with the water.” 

Sana grinned. “If you’re interested, you should ask. He’s interested too by the looks of things.” She nodded towards the bar again and when Noora looked back, she saw William staring right at her, though his attention was drawn to a couple flagging him down moments later. 

Noora turned back to Sana and shrugged. “Bartenders aren’t really my thing.” 

“Right,” Sana said. 

“Sana he got into a fight the other night with some random dude so-” Noora shrugged again. “Not exactly boyfriend material.” 

“He doesn’t have to be your boyfriend,” Sana replied, the look on her face positively devious. 

“ _Sana_.” 

Sana held her free hand up. “Whatever makes you happy is all I’m saying. And he’s more than happy to.” 

“I’m happy.” Eva chose that exact moment to tune back into the real world and smile beatifically at the two of them. “Aren’t you happy?” 

Noora smiled back despite herself. “Yes we are.” 

 

 

 

The next time they were all at the same club was a scant few days later, the night before the other girls took off back to their own universities. And Sana was like a dog with a bone. 

“Come on, just talk to him. You can’t stare at him like a stalker for the rest of the semester.” 

“Sana, he’s probably not even single.” 

“It’s stoplight night, and guess what colour he’s got.” Sana turned Noora by the chin in William’s direction. “Green.” 

“You realize how creepy this is right,” Noora shook herself free of Sana. 

“Creepier than you mooning over him without us here to judge you for it?” Sana quipped. “I mean you could always sit here like a wilting flower waiting for your prince charming or you could - you know - be strong and independent.” 

“I was talking about marriage, not about fucking some boy I barely know.” 

Sana let out a sigh. “Okay, be stubborn. But when we come back, you better not be still pining over him or that’s an ‘I told you so’ that you’ll never live down.” 

“I am not pining over him.” 

“You are. Like a christmas tree.” 

Noora rolled her eyes in exasperation. “I’m getting us drinks. What do you guys want?” She got up, the list already in mind and mentally checking it off as the orders went around the table. 

“Don’t forget to get something for yourself,” Sana called as Noora made to go. 

Noora flipped her off without bothering to look back. She pushed her way up front and tapped her ring against the counter while waiting for William to notice her. 

“Hey.” He was out of breath when he got to her end but smiling. 

“Hi.” Noora folded her arms on the top of the bar. She felt out of breath just looking at William, even in the dim lighting of the club. He was a terrible, violent person she had to remind herself, and no matter how great he looked in that tight black shirt or how nice he was to her, he was still not a good person, so she had to focus. On something that was not how great his arms looked in that short sleeve.

“Can I get you something?” William asked, waiting patiently. 

“Oh- yeah,” Noora snapped back to herself. “Um - can I get a-” it took her a second to remember and rattle off all the drinks. 

“Coming right up,” William said. And it might have been her imagination or the lights but William might have also winked with that. Noora chalked it up to her imagination and vowed to never take Sana or any of the girls back to this club ever again for her own peace of mind. 

 

 

 

Naturally, she was back the friday after. This time with just Eva in tow and some of her friends from volunteering at the women’s shelter. 

“So he’s cute,” one of them said, assessing after William had come over with their drinks and left. 

“Really?” Noora replied. “I never noticed. Eva and I just come here a lot because it’s so close to the flat.” 

“You’re joking right?” the other girl asked. 

After that, talk dissolved from how terrible dressing up for clubbing was to how hot William was and Noora made like Eva and attempted to drown herself in liquor. 

 

 

 

When she saw him behind the checkout counter, she almost didn’t recognize him. He wasn’t wearing anything different from his usual work clothes, still dark shirt and black jeans. But it was a shock nevertheless. William was like a mirage that only appeared when Eva needed to get trashed. But now he was here. In her library. Well. A library that she frequented enough that all the workers knew her and where the librarians always gave her ten minutes grace for packing up to leave. And here he was. Helping her. In broad daylight. Noora wasn’t sure if she could look more gobsmacked if she tried. 

“Hi?” William asked, holding his hand out for her books. 

Noora opened her mouth. And closed it. “Hi?” 

“Noora right?” William asked when she didn’t say anything else. 

He dropped his hand awkwardly back onto the table when Noora’s books stayed firmly in her arms. The clatter of William’s watch against the smooth wood of the counter brought her back and she held her books out to him, hands not shaking at all. 

“Yeah,” Noora answered. “You’re William right?” She pointed to his name tag as if she hadn’t memorized it the first night he offered it to her. 

“I’m surprised you remember,” William said as he scanned the books. “Surprise you’re here this morning actually - you looked pretty out of it last night. Never seen you like that before.” William looked up to grin at her. 

Noora smiled back wanly, frantically going back through what she remembered of last night. It wasn’t much but Eva, in a strange turn of events was completely sober last night and had reassured her this morning that nothing had happened. But then Eva’s definition of nothing happened ranged from Noora just sitting at their booth to possibly making out with the wall. 

“It was just a rough day,” Noora said. She fidgeted with her fingers, tugging and twisting while William continued scanning her books. 

“Well then, I’m glad you had a better night.” William pushed his hair out of his face before returning her pile of books. 

“I did.” Noora stayed in her spot, her fingers drumming out a senseless pattern on top of her books. “So you work here too?” 

William shrugged. “Started this morning actually. New semester, new schedule. I’ve got too many morning classes to keep up with the night shifts at the club.” 

Noora shifted on the balls of her feet and tried not to smile. “Oh.” 

“I’ll be here most days of the week. I mean my exact shift schedule’s not concrete,” William peered at Noora from under his fringe, “but I guess I’ll be seeing you around? At least if you ever plan on returning those.” William motioned to the pile of books Noora was still drumming her fingers against. 

“I kinda need to if I want to graduate.” Noora smiled back at William’s oddly bashful expression. 

“Yeah, I guess you do.” His mouth curved up into a not quite grin. 

“So,” Noora dragged out the word, “I’ll see you later?” She took a step back to drop the books into her bag. 

“Bye Noora.” William waved her off with a two finger salute. 

 

 

 

William working at the library was at once the best and the worst.The best because now Noora saw him more than ever, between her proclivity for working and Eva’s constant string of boyfriends, Noora spent most of her school year in the library. Except the worst was that every time she saw William, her attention would be shot for the next half an hour. And unexpectedly, she saw him around the library a lot, always shelving books or picking things up for her he thought she might be interested in or reaching the top shelves for her. He would always seemingly come out of nowhere to help and nearly always left her in a daze with the faintest hint of his cologne permeating the air that made her want to follow him just to have more. 

It was one of those times when William breaks away from their established half stilted conversations. He had given up all pretense of being helpful in any way and was sitting against a shelf watching Noora pull book after book out to look for the elusive one she needed for her essay. 

“Looking for some light reading over the break?” William asked. 

Noora laughed the laugh of the sleep deprived. “I wish. This essay’s due tomorrow.” 

“And you haven’t finished?” William looked up at her from his place on the floor. He had two books in hand and was attempting to make the roof of a book house without toppling the rest of it. “You’re here everyday.” 

“I am _not_ here everyday,” Noora made a face at the row of books in front of her. And she wasn’t, she was positive there was at least one day this week when she didn’t hit the stacks but she was drawing up a blank on when. 

William laughed. “Okay.” He turned back to his book house building.

“I wasn’t here tuesday,” Noora pointed out at last, after a few minutes of staring at the books trying to catalogue her week. She was caught off guard when William chose that moment to grin up at her. 

“Tuesday?” 

“Yeah?” Noora looked at William quizzically. “Why?” 

William shrugged, still looking oddly pleased with himself. “No reason.” 

“Okay,” Noora replied, still mildly confused. Till she wasn’t as she remembered that tuesday was the only day that week William hadn’t worked, and then she wanted to bury herself under all the books in the library. She focused on taking the books out, not looking in William’s direction at all in hopes that he wouldn’t see the flare of heat that had taken over her cheeks. 

“You got any plans for the break?” William asked after a pregnant pause. He didn’t seem at all affected by the silence, completely at ease with his growing hoard of books. 

“Work,” Noora said. 

“You’re not going back to visit family?” 

Noora made another face at the shelf in front of her. “Visit family? And ruin a perfectly good break?” Noora bit her tongue, wishing she could’ve taken back the last part. But it was out there now and she could see William looking up at her curiously out of the corner of her eye. He didn’t press though and Noora’s hand unclenched from the fist she had made without realizing, knuckles cracking a little as the tension loosened. “You got any plans?” 

“Work for me too.” 

“The library’s open during the break?” Noora asked, looking down at William with her brows raised. 

William laughed. “No. I’m pulling a couple of extra shifts at the club.” He grinned up at her again. “You could come keep me company?” 

Noora wrinkled her nose. “No thanks.” 

“Scared?” 

Noora gave him a look. “No.” 

“Alright,” William said a little mockingly and ran his fingers through his hair. “Well if you’re lonely, you know where to find me.” 

“I’m not going to be lonely.” 

William made an amused, “Mhmm.” 

Noora felt the absurd urge to stomp her foot just to get her point across but she reined herself in and concentrated on the books. Books she needed to get her essay done before she could finally relax for the break ahead. Books she wouldn’t be paying any attention to if William kept distracting her. 

“Don’t you have a job to do?” Noora asked William who was now onto his second house of books. 

“My job is organizing books,” William gestured to his pile, “I am organizing books.” 

“You are-” Noora broke off. Ridiculous. Infuriating. Endearing. Noora couldn’t choose a word and William was just sitting there with his head bent to the side, his dark eyes on her. 

“What?” William asked, smiling so widely dimples appeared. 

“Nothing,” Noora looked away, “anyways I think that should tide me over for this essay.” She pointed at the stack and motioned for William to hand them over. 

“I’ll help you carry them to your table.” 

And Noora most definitely did not feel her legs turn a bit gel like when William hefted all of the books up at once, inadvertently flexing. 

“Uh - sure,” Noora said and turned around to lead them away because she didn’t trust herself to not accidentally brain herself on the stairs if she had to walk behind William.

William’s low chuckle followed her up the steps even when she shot a half-hearted glare over her shoulder. 

 

 

 

“What can I get you?” William’s smirk was unbearably smug. 

Noora pursed her lips. “A coke and rum please.” She had come alone this time. Eva had flown to whichever country her mother was in at the moment and the others were back in Norway, leaving Noora to be a little, as loathed she was to admit it, lonely back at the flat. 

“No friends tonight?” William asked as he handed her the drink.

“They all went home,” Noora said. She circled the rim of the glass with her finger, looking at William from her peripherals. 

“Want some company?” William leaned forward on his elbows, his smile inviting and just a side of teasing. 

“No,” Noora said with very little conviction. She looked away down the bar where there were a couple of girls waiting impatiently for William to serve them. “You should go.” She nodded her head towards them. 

William made a face at her and rapped his knuckles on the bar before moving away. He pointed at her with an “I’ll be back.” 

“Sure thing Schwarzenegger,” Noora shot back with a smile. 

She turned her attention away from the girls and looked at the bottles of alcohol displayed along the wall. Being by herself in a club was odd, something that didn’t fully sink in till William was gone and she was sitting alone. And though she had made Sana promise to call her after a few hours to check up on her, she was still uncomfortable with taking more than a few small sips of her drink. So she busied herself with watching William, as it happened more often than not these days, and it helped that he was so focused on making the drinks he couldn’t see her and send her that teasing smirk that said he knew something she didn’t. 

Noora was pulled out of her musings by the shrill ring of her phone. “Hello?” 

“Are you still alive? Still sad and pining?” 

“Yes and no Sana,” Noora looked down at the bar counter, fighting a grin.

“Are you sure? Cause I’m pretty sure that’s William’s voice I hear in the background.” 

Noora looked back up to see William walking towards her. 

“That’s _not_ William.” 

William raised his eyebrows as he walked within hearing distance. He pointed to himself with a questioning look. Noora shook her head. 

“Thanks for calling Sana,” Noora said loudly back into the mouthpiece, “I’ll call you back when I get home.” She press the end button to the sound of Sana’s laughter that was more of a cackle than a laugh. 

“Lots of William’s in your life?” William asked as soon as she shoved her phone into her pocket. 

Noora opened her mouth. And it hung there, before she realized and clamped it shut. Then she looked away and cleared her throat, wanting to clear the sudden heat blooming under her cheeks too. She could see William’s smile get larger. “No,” she said as nonchalantly as she could given William’s scrutiny. Noora sniffed and laced her fingers together. “Just you.” 

William bit his bottom lip, turning it bloodless for a second. “That’s good.” 

“Is it?” Noora looked up at him with the blandest smile she could muster. 

William just stared at her with his mouth curved up, his eyes scanning her face. And Noora got the feeling, the tingle under her skin, that said she was doing something possibly absolutely senseless. William kept looking at her, searching for what she didn’t know, but he seemed to have found it. 

“If you’re still looking for company, want to come back to mine after?” 

“Yours?” Noora asked, caught between disbelief at his audacity and delight that should not exist but did. “Isn’t that a little presumptuous?” 

William shrugged, his gaze still intent on her and his pleased look unabating. “Do you want to?” 

Noora cocked an unimpressed eyebrow and pressed her lips together to stop any signs of amusement or worse, affirmation. 

“It’s not rocket science Noora. Just a yes or no,” William asked after a long moment of Noora studying the wall behind him. 

“Then it’s going to be a no,” Noora answered, looking in the general direction of William’s face but not quite meeting his eyes. William ducked his head down to catch hers. 

“Do you mean that?” And for once, his face was serious with no hint of a teasing smirk anywhere. Noora found herself speechless and felt almost wrong-footed in the face of his sincerity. 

“William.” Noora paused, not sure how to continue. “I-” 

“How about, for once, you stop using that big brain of yours and tell me what you want?” William asked, interrupted really, but softly, so quiet she nearly didn’t hear him over the music blasting from the speakers, probably wouldn’t if she hadn’t been so fixated on his face. 

Noora let out a breath of air and her shoulders broke from their tense frame. She took in the earnest lines of his face, his clear eyes and the straight edges of his mouth. 

“Okay.” It was only just audible. She twisted herself a bit to the side and glanced back at William. “You got food at that place of yours?”

“I can do that,” William answered, a slow smile spreading.

 

 

 

“You live here all alone?” Noora asked, incredulous as she looked around the cavernous flat. The ceilings were high and the walls were white but the floor was marble and cold. She felt chilled even in her sweater. 

William steered her towards the living room. “Better than living with people.” 

“Better than living with people?” Noora looked around the living room that was spartan in its sparseness. Everything looked like it was transported from a magazine, everything placed so perfectly, not a speck of dust on any surface. 

William stood watching her take in the flat. “Do you want anything to drink?” 

Noora paused in front of the couch that looked surprisingly comfortable with an afghan thrown over it. “What do you have?” 

“Alcohol mostly but I’ll have to check,” William said with his hands in his pockets. “I did promise you food after all.” He padded across the room and beckoned for Noora to follow him through the sliding door to another room.

The kitchen was just as pristine as the rest of the flat and Noora looked at William askance when he opened the fridge to show more bottles than actual food. 

“Are you for real?” Noora asked. 

William reached into the fridge to push aside the bottles to show a carton of eggs, some bacon and a bag of spinach. He held them out. “Breakfast for dinner?” 

Noora took the bag of spinach. “You are ridiculous.” 

“But you like it,” William said, self assured with the frying pan in one hand while pointing to her with the spatula in his other, having set the eggs and bacon down. And she did. But he didn’t need to know that. 

“No.” Then her mouth twitched of its own volition and William broke into open mouthed smile. 

“You do,” he said with such confidence while cracking eggs over the pan that Noora couldn’t stem her own grin. 

“Keep your eyes on the eggs, they burn easy.” 

William looked at her from the side. “Of course.” 

The omelets were surprisingly good, surprise she most definitely did not show though William beamed at her not unlike a child regardless. 

“Do you like it?” William had pulled his bottom lip between his teeth and Noora found the truth slipping out easier than she wanted it to. 

“It’s good.” She chewed slowly. “Who taught you to cook?” 

“I had an au pair,” William said. “She wanted all of us to know how to fend for ourselves.” 

“All of us?” Noora asked. 

“I have a brother.” 

“Is he here?” Noora felt a little like she was pulling teeth. 

“Nope, still in Norway.” 

“Okay.” She let it drop, William’s unwillingness to talk about his family so heavy it made her feel unwelcome. 

They finished the food in quiet, broken only by the sharp clinks of the knife and fork against the china. It should’ve been awkward but William kept sending her unreadable looks over the table and it had her on edge, like he was thinking about something and wanted to say it but always stopped at the last second. Clean up followed in much the same way, but William was closer and she would run right into him every time she turned to place things back into the cabinets. 

“Stop that,” Noora shoved him away with a laugh after what felt like the thousandth time. “I’m going to break something if you keep on doing that.” 

“Stop what?” William took the smallest step back, still too close for her to look at him properly. From her vantage point all she could see was the tiny flecks in his eyes and the dust of sunspots across his nose. 

“You know what.” Noora made a shooing motion with her hand and accidentally cuffed William on the side. William didn’t budge, didn’t even seem to feel the hit. “Excuse me,” Noora used her free hand to move William to the side so she could reach the cabinet and this time, William moved, easy as anything. “That wasn’t so hard was it?” She asked over her shoulder as she put the plate back.

William shrugged from where he was leaning against the sink, the dish towel hanging against his thigh. Noora tugged it out of his hands and folded it over the handle. She lingered around the sink. Now that they were done the dishes, she had no other reason to stay besides that it was late, late enough that there were probably no more trains running. William seem to catch on to her contemplative mood. 

“I can drive you back if you want to go home,” William offered with a nod to the dark outside the window spanning the wall across from the sink. 

“Well-” Noora hesitated and stopped. 

“Or you could stay? I could make up the bed for you,” William’s head was bowed low and he looked up at her. “And you could stay for breakfast. Real breakfast.” 

Noora raised her shoulders and let them drop. “If that’s easier for you.” She stifled a smile and directed her gaze to the window where she could see William’s expression without staring right at him. William was grinning in the reflection. 

“I can do whatever you want me to.” 

Noora tore her eyes from the window to meet his. “Whatever I want you to? Is this Pretty Woman?” she asked with her brows high. 

William laughed out loud. “Lucky for you, I’m free.” 

“For everyone,” Noora said and pointedly looked him up and down. 

William moved closer to her, hovering so that the longer strands of his hair brushed hers. “Not for everyone.” 

“Well clearly you’ve never been to the bathroom at the club,” Noora kept her eyes directly in front of her, talking to William’s chest. She pitched her voice higher, “William is such a good lay, a real gentleman,” and in a lower voice, “his dick is so big.” 

“Want to find out?” 

She couldn’t see his face but she could feel the amusement radiating from him. Noora kept her gaze on the soft fabric of his shirt. “No thanks. Not that committed to getting chlamydia.” 

“I don’t have chlamydia,” William said. 

“And you know that, how?” Noora asked, glancing up at him. He was so near she had to lean back a little to make eye contact. 

“Well I have this person in my life.  I call her a doctor?” 

“And when’s the last time you saw her?” 

“Beginning of the semester.” 

“That was like two months ago,” Noora broke off their impromptu staring contest, “how many people have you been with since?”

“No one.” 

That, more than anything else that had happened, was what made Noora’s heart pound. Because that - that was when William started working at the library. But more than that, that was when William started talking to Noora on a near daily basis.

“I can book another appointment with her next week if you’re so worried,” William said when Noora didn’t say anything. 

“I’m not worried. Because I’m not interested,” Noora said, looking past him. 

“You go home with all the guys you’re not interested in?” William moved himself into her line of sight. 

“Constantly,” Noora answered with a small smile. She turned her face down and cleared her throat. “So where’s this bed of yours?”

 

 

 

Noora woke up feeling the most rested she had been in a long while. The room was still dark though the slivers of light that did peek through the heavy curtains suggested that it was well after noon. The sound of cooking that had woken her was followed by the smell and her stomach grumbled. She looked over at William’s side of the bed, pushing the line of pillows out of the way to see rumpled sheets and no William. She dropped back on to the bed and pulled the sheets over her head, running over thoughts of just how terrible it would be to have breakfast, to stay for a while and then go home, and what she was going to do in an empty flat all by herself that didn’t involve her heading back to see William at the club later that night. 

Noora was thinking of plans to go to the bookstore around the corner from her place just so she would have something to do that wasn’t William when she heard the door slide open. Soft steps approached her side of the bed. William, no doubt, silently checking on her. She kept still. 

“Noora?” The call came from just above. William was almost on top of her from the way her sheets rustled. “I know you’re awake.” 

“No I’m not,” Noora said, her voice muffled by the sheets separating them. 

“Of course not. I don’t what I was thinking. You are obviously asleep.” The sheets stirred with William’s words. “Well, sleeping beauty, whenever you feel the need to wake up, food’s ready.” He patted her head through the sheets before moving away from her side of the bed. 

Noora pulled the offending sheets away from her face the moment the door slid closed, only to see William leaning against it. She squinted at him. “What?”

“You’re really grumpy in the mornings,” he answered. His face was relaxed, the muscles that were usually tight around his jaw and mouth slack and the shadows under his eyes pale. In fact, William looked about as well rested as she felt. 

“I’m not grumpy,” Noora said. 

“Okay.” William shrugged unconvincingly before sliding the door open to leave. 

As soon as he was gone, Noora shoved the sheets off herself before making her way to the bathroom. William had dug out a spare toothbrush and toiletries for her last night and now it stood, one of two in the holder next to the sink, like a neon sign for commitment. Noora scrunched her face up in the mirror. How in the world was she in stranger’s bathroom after a night of doing nothing but sleeping and well - that wasn’t entirely true was it? She supposed William was more than a stranger at this point. 

Noora peered at herself in the mirror, looking for anything that seemed different, but the only thing she saw was the light pink underscoring her skin. The overall effect was that the her in the mirror looked content, a little rumpled maybe, still in the shirt that William had given her last night, but bright in the lighting of the bathroom. Noora shook herself and grabbed the offending toothbrush out of the holder and brushed her teeth, a little more aggressively than usual but that was only to get the taste of sleep out of her mouth. 

 

 

 

“You got plans for today?” William asked when they had finished up the last of the dishes from breakfast. 

“I’m going home,” Noora said, “Because I can’t live in these clothes forever.” 

William looked at her. “Why? You look good.” 

She gave him an impassive stare. “I wore this yesterday,” and she continued before William could say anything else strange, “And then after that I’m probably going to a bookstore.” 

“A bookstore? You really are a nerd, aren’t you?” William raised his brows. “And here I thought that you only came to the library to see me.” 

Noora didn’t say anything back but her eyes roving and lingering too long on William’s form might have given her away. A phone buzzing on the table broke the silence and she grabbed it when she realized it was hers. A quick scan showed her 5  missed calls and a dozen texts. She pulled up the newest one from Sana that said, “You better be dead or getting some Noora.” 

She laughed and sent off a quick text, “Alive and kicking Sana, thank you.” 

“Friends?” William was playing with the dish towel, wrapping it round and round his wrist.

“Yeah, she’s just checking that I’m okay,” Noora said. “But I should get going, don’t want to, um, not make it to the store before it closes.” 

“Right,” William was subdued as he watched her fumble around to gather her things. They’re at the door when William speaks up again. “If you’re not busy, maybe we could get dinner after your bookstore thing?”

“Don’t you have work?” Noora asked, slow in her enunciation of the words, not wanting to upset the uncertainty etched across William’s face. 

“Not till nine,” William said. He was slouched against the door frame, his posture at odds with the tension around his mouth. 

“Would this be like a -” Noora stopped. 

“A date?” William offered. 

Noora sent him a glare with no heat in it. 

“Do you want it to be a date?” 

Yes. No. Noora closed her eyes and sighed. A string of yes’s were all she wanted to say but wanting something that bad never turned out right, not from her experience.  

“Noora?” William’s voice was low and soft. He reached out to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ears. “Are you alright?” 

Noora clasped her hands together in front of her, tugging her fingers apart and then again. Staring at the pattern of her hands, she didn’t look at William when she answered. 

“Yeah.” 

“Do you want a date?” 

Noora shifted her stance. “Maybe.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “Yeah.”

“Okay.” William was quiet. “Then I’ll see you tonight.” He reached forward and for a minute Noora’s heart rate spiked thinking he was going to kiss her, but he didn’t. Instead, he pressed a chaste kiss to the side of her head, leaving her a little wistful. 

 

 

 

“You’re having dinner with him?” Sana’s voice was loud over the phone and Noora had to pull it away from her ear. 

“Yes.” The glee in Sana’s voice was palpable and Noora couldn’t help but laugh a little. 

“I want to say I told you so but mostly I just want to say, took you long enough. It’s been like a year,” Sana said. 

“It has not been a year,” Noora answered. 

“Eva said you guys have been going to that club since you moved in,” Sana pointed out. 

Noora found herself with the sudden need to smack Eva. “She did _not_ say that.” 

“What she also didn’t say was that William’s been working there since you guys started going,” Sana continued, the teasing lilt in her voice making Noora regret everything. 

Noora let out a puff of air. “Eva should really think about how loose lips sink ships.” 

Sana laughed. “But I’m happy for you,” she said once she managed to keep the giggles from her voice. “A date will be good for you. Maybe William will even turn out to be a decent guy.” 

“Maybe,” Noora said, exuberance replaced with the sudden realization of what she did. 

“And if he isn’t, then we’ll all come over there and beat his ass,” Sana said firmly. 

Noora smiled into her phone, the quiet worry that was gnawing away at her smothered by Sana’s no nonsense voice. “I miss you guys.” 

“Of course you do,” Sana said, “who else is gonna look this bomb while kicking white dude ass?” 

Noora laughed loud enough the people across the street looked over at her.

 

 

 

William had laced their hands together somewhere between after dinner and walking down the dark cobbled streets. Noora hung back a little, watching her hand wrapped in his and tugging her along, and she felt a little giddy.

“Are you cold?” William asked, looking back at her, the hollows of his cheeks and outlines of his jaw made more prominent by the orange street lights. 

“A little.” Noora picked up her pace till they were side by side and leaned into the warmth emanating from William. 

“Next time, I’ll drive,” William said and put his arm around her to pull her closer and slowed his walk to match hers. 

“Next time?” Noora asked, smiling up at him. 

“Yes. Next time. Because this is what people who are together do,” William said slowly as if he were explaining something to a child. 

“And you think we’re together?” Noora asked just to get a rise out of him. 

“We are together,” William said. He leaned down and pressed a kiss against her lips, wrapping his other arm around her and scrapping her bottom lip with his teeth. Noora pulled away after a few moments and William moved with her, catching another kiss before Noora put a hand on his chest.

“You’re going to be late for work.” 

“Fuck work,” William said and kissed her again. 

“Don’t you need a job?” Noora said, leaning back a bit more. 

“No,” came William’s reply in between kisses. 

“What?” Noora looked at him with her eyebrows raised. 

William paused and brushed his hair back when Noora moved away from his next kiss. “My father pays for everything. The jobs are to make sure I don’t get into trouble all by myself in London.” 

“Hang on, am I dating a trust fund baby?” Noora dropped her hand from his chest. 

“So we _are_ dating,” William said with a wide grin, stuck on the wrong part of her sentence. 

“I mean I don’t know if I can anymore,” Noora said as she gestured towards him. 

“Yes you can,” William pulled her back to him, punctuating each word with a kiss. 

“You still got work though,” Noora said even as she made no move to leave the circle of William’s arms.

William pulled a face at her. 

 

 

 

“How is _William_ doing?” Sana was beaming from the other end of the video chat. 

“William?” Vilde asked. 

“Noora’s boyfriend,” Sana answered. 

“Oh the hot one from the club?” Chris asked. 

“I remember him, he was all up on Noora the last time we went,” Eva said.

Noora just sighed and looked at William who was sitting on the other end of the couch, hidden from the camera lens. 

“She’s not wrong,” William supplied helpfully. 

At the sound of his voice, all the girls quieted at once. 

“Is that-” Sana raised an eyebrow. 

Noora adjusted her place on the couch so William came into view. William waved and smiled. “Hi.” 

And if William wasn’t there, Noora was willing to bet a lot of money that a lot of shrill shrieks would’ve erupted, but as it was, nobody said anything. Their faces, however, were all warped into demented looking smiles. 

“Nice to meet you,” Eva was the first to recover and wave through the screen, and the others followed suit. 

“Anyways,” Noora shifted and turned the laptop back once they were done so that it only showed her again. William pointed to himself and then the door in a silent question. She shook her head. “Stay.” 

“Are you sure?” 

“Yeah.” 

And when she turned her attention back to the screen all she saw was the message section blow up with exclamation marks. 

**Author's Note:**

> kiranstein on tumblr


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